Suspended Nelson Mandela Bay municipal manager Johann Mettler is bringing in a legal team to look at all legal avenues following his suspension on Thursday.
On Friday, Mettler said his lawyers would look at all options available to him.
Mettler, who during an SAFM interview on Thursday said he would instruct his lawyers to have his suspension lifted, was a little more reticent on Friday, saying only that his lawyers would look at his options.
During the radio interview he said: “The thing that motivates me is my name has been sullied in the media and I have worked very hard on this brand.
“I was asked to come to Nelson Mandela Metro in 2015.
“I was asked to go to Msunduzi [municipality] in 2010 and I was asked to assist the then minister with the establishment of the municipalities in 2000. It’s not like I applied for these – I was asked to,” Mettler said.
After a lengthy debate on Thursday, Mettler was suspended by the council pending the outcome of a full investigation into allegations of misconduct brought against him by Bay mayor Mongameli Bobani in May.
The allegations against Mettler include the unlawful extension of the scope of a communications contract with Mohlaleng Media, misappropriating municipal funds for the implementation of the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts system and giving incorrect or conflicting advice to the council in the matter involving DA councillor Mbulelo Manyati and whether or not there was a quorum at the August 27 council meeting.
During his radio interview Mettler said the municipality had conducted several forensic investigations which had exonerated him.
He rejected the claims and denied wrongdoing, providing proof he was cleared of wrongdoing in the Mohlaleng saga through a forensic probe.
“I was exonerated and it was as simple as that. Other bold allegations [have] no substance,” he said.
Mettler said his suspension was a political decision.
During Thursday’s council meeting Bobani recommended he be given the executive authority to not only appoint the disciplinary board to oversee Mettler’s hearing but also to appoint who should act in his position. 
This was denied by councillors from the opposition.
Responding to this, Mettler said: “It’s important processes are followed [that are] fair and seen to be fair. The accuser can’t be the person who determines the process.”
Meanwhile, at a DA press conference on Friday, councillor Nqaba Bhanga said Mettler’s suspension was a blow to clean governance in the metro.
Bhanga said Bobani had always had a vendetta against Mettler and on Thursday, finally got his way.
“The charges against Mettler are trumped up and he has fully complied and comprehensively replied to the allegations tabled in council on Thursday,” Bhanga said.
He said Mettler was considered one of the best municipal managers in the country.
Bhanga said during Mettler’s tenure corruption to the tune of hundreds of millions of rands was exposed, adding that dubious contracts were set aside.
The DA Eastern Cape leader said Mettler would be vindicated once the disciplinary process had been concluded.
With Mettler ousted, said Bhanga, the Bay was open for looting which, he said, was the status quo before the ANC was removed from government in 2016.
Bhanga alleged that there was a criminal cartel outside council chambers that had identified the weaknesses in the city.
He said How to Steal A City author Crispian Olver wrote about it in his book and said the “cartel of Florence Matomela House is back”.
“Mettler is being removed and now part two of ‘how to steal a city’ is about to commence.”
Bobani and members of the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay have always vehemently denied that any looting had, or would, take place.